A GUIDE TO PREVENTING
BULLYING,
TEEN DATING VIOLENCE,
AND
SEXUAL VIOLENCE
IN RHODE ISLAND SCHOOLS
April 1, 2008
Rhode Island Department of Education
255 Westminster Street
Providence, Rhode Island02903
PREFACE
How many more daughters have to lose their lives at the hands of an abusive partner? How many more teens have to suffer in an abusive relationship, fearing for their lives, afraid to tell anyone? Teen dating violence is a major health problem that leads to teen pregnancy, substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, and suicide. The psychological effects on its victims are devastating, and I know this alltoo well. Dating violence, the same as domestic violence, destroys and sometimes kills people. How can we ignore this major health problem any longer?
Teens, parents, and the public have a right to be educated about violence. Lindsay, a Rhode IslandCollege graduate with a degree in elementary and special education, had a right to know this information too. Rhode Island legislators showed foresight and took a stand by passing the Lindsay Ann Burke Act. Episodes of dating violence, and all abuse, at school will no longer be ignored. People will now get the information and education that they rightfully deserve.
An interesting thing happens when you educate teens, school staff, and parents at the same time: Everyone begins to talk openly about this topic, removing the shame and stigma that now exists. This helps teen victims to come forward and seek help; it gives teens the knowledge and skills to help each other; and it helps parents to reinforce this information at home with their teens and watch for signs of unhealthy relationships. And abusers, once educated, may think twice about their own behavior and seek ways to change.
Our children deserve to be educated in a safe environment. Safety at school is paramount to receiving an education. Victims have difficulty learning in school due to the detrimental effects of violence. Schools have a responsibility to address this issue and education is the key.
Education gives power, the power to recognize an abusive relationship and help ourselves and others. It can and will save lives. It’s the right thing to do; it’s long overdue. If we wait, teens will continue to suffer in silence and the loss of life will continue. This is unacceptable. We can help them. You can help them. The time to educate a nation is NOW.
Ann Burke
South Kingston Health Teacher, Lindsay’s Mom
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Project Management Team:
George McDonough; Jennifer Almeida, MPH; Kate Reilly, MPH
This guide is the result of the industry and dedication of many individuals and organizations. The Rhode Island Department of Education thanks the team ofpeople who contributed content, feedback, practical experience in school systems, and knowledge about bullying, teen dating violence, and sexual violence to the crafting of this guide.
Ann Burke, Lindsay Ann Burke Memorial Fund, Linsday’s Mom
Nancy Daley, Rhode IslandSchool Superintendents’ Association
Timothy Duffy, Rhode Island Association of School Committees
Jeff Giumond, Office of the Attorney General Patrick Lynch
VirginiaHarnois, Rhode Island Association of School Committees
Joee Lindbeck, Office of the Attorney General Patrick Lynch
Sandy Malone, Day One
Jan Mermin, Rhode Island Department of Education
Beatriz Perez, Rhode IslandDepartment of Public Health
Lucy Rios, Rhode Island Coalition against Domestic Violence
Midge Sabatini,Rhode Island Department of Education
Annie Silva, Rhode Island Department of Education
Wayne Talbot, West WarwickHigh School,
Wendy Verhoek-Oftedahl, Department of Community Health, BrownUniversity
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION / 5Youth in Crisis: Teen Dating Violence, Bullying, and Sexual Violence / 5
School Response to Abuse: Obligation and Opportunity / 5
A Guide to Preventing Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence in Rhode Island Schools / 6
FEDERAL AND RHODEISLAND LAW REQUIRES SCHOOLS TO RESPOND TO TEEN DATING VIOLENCE, BULLYING, AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE / 7
Federal Law / 7
Rhode Island Law / 8
INTERVENTION: RESPONDING TO BULLYING, TEEN DATING VIOLENCE, AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN SCHOOL / 11
Creating an Effective Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence Response Policy / 11
Model Policy on School Response to Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence / 12
- Prohibition against Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence
- Definitions
- At School
- Bullying
- Dating Violence
- Sexual Assault
- Reporting Responsibilities
- Investigation
- Disciplinary Sanctions
- Victim Rights and Protection
- Prevention
Procedures and Guidelines / 14
- Definitions (Continued)
- Bystander
- Cyberbullying
- Dating
- Dating Partner
- Hazing
- Perpetrator/Abuser/Dominant Aggressor
- Sexual Harassment
- Sexual Violence
- Stalking
- Rape
- Victim/Survivor
- Witness
2. Responsibilities and Expectations / 15
- Responsibilities of Administrators
- Investigation of all Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence Reports
- Creation of Individualized School Safety Plan: Victim Safety Plan, Enforcement of Protective Orders, Stay Away Agreements
- Creation of Violence Prevention Taskforce
- Responsibility of School Staff
- Responsibility of Students
3. Protocol for Responding to Reports of Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence / 18
- Protocol of School-Based Intervention: Staff Members
- Protocol for School-Based Intervention: Administrators
- Protocol for Working with the Victim
- Protocol for Working with the Alleged Perpetrator
- Protocol for Documentation and Reporting of Incidents
4. Prevention of Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence through Education, Training, and Social Norms Change / 21
- Administrator and Staff Training
- Student Education
- Parent Education
- Social Norms Change
DATING VIOLENCE PREVENTION TOOL KIT / 24
A Guide to Preventing Teen Dating Violence through Education and Social Norms Change / 24
Prevention Resource List / 25
Understanding Teen Dating Violence / 26
School Staff Can Help Prevent Teen Dating Violence / 28
How to Talk about Dating Violence with your Students: A Guide for School Staff / 29
Teen Dating Violence: A Guide for Parents / 31
Social Norms: How to Prevent Gender Based Violence in Your School / 32
APPENDIX
A. Lindsay Ann Burke Act and Bullying Related Legislation / 35
B. Forms / 39
- Student Complaint Form for Reporting Bullying, Sexual Harassment, Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence
- Student on Student Altercation Response Chart
- Restraining Order/No-Contact Order School Checklist
- Victim Safety Plan
- School-Based Stay Away Agreement
C. Chart of Recommended Disciplinary Actions for Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence / 49
D. Resources / 50
INTRODUCTION,
Youth in Crisis: Teen Dating Violence, Bullying, and Sexual Violence
On March 27th, 2003, 15-year-old Ortralla Mosley broke-up with her 16-year-old boyfriend Marcus McTear. Both were sophomores at ReaganHigh School in Austin, Texas. The next day, as school let out, McTear found Mosley in a hallway and stabbed her to death with a butcher knife.[1]
Teen Dating Violence homicides are rare, but the violent relationships that cause them are not. In a national survey of over four thousand 9th through 12th graders, approximately 20% report being physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.[2] In Rhode Island, the number of youth who reported being hit, kicked, or slapped by dating partner increased by more than 30% in the past two years alone.[3] Teen dating violence affects youth from all socio-economic, racial, and ethnic groups; claims victims and perpetrators of both genders; and occurs in heterosexual, gay, and lesbian relationships. The social, psychological, and physical health repercussions are severe and persistent with a recent study linking dating violence to increased substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexualrisk behavior, pregnancy, and suicide.[4]
Teen dating violence shares trends with bullying and sexual violence. In the lives of young people, these behaviors overlap, co-occur, and can be risk factors for perpetrating or experiencing domestic violence in adulthood. Teen dating violence, bullying, and sexual violence generally exhibit similar patterns of which the major elements are:
- Power and control: Deliberate action taken by the perpetrator to exert power and control over the victim.
- Patterns of fear-inducing behavior: The abusive behaviors usually occur as a pattern over time, rather than as an isolated incident.
- Cycle of violence: violent offenses are often interchanged with apologizes or durations of reprieve.
School Response to Abuse: Obligation and Opportunity
Schools have a practical, legal, and moral imperative to prevent violence. Teen dating violence, bullying, and sexual violence—perpetrated on campus grounds or elsewhere—can undermine the academic achievement of an entire school. In some studies, teen victims of abuse earn lower grades and have higher truancy rates than their peers.[5] Administrators who fail to respond to reports of abuse can expose their school to legal liability under federal and Rhode Island law.
At the same time, there is great opportunity for change. Schools possess strong educational infrastructure and relationships with young people. Teens are less likely to be entrenched in patterns of behavior and are more open to changing attitudes. And so, Rhode Island educators are in a unique position to take action against bullying, teen dating violence, and sexual violence; to return safety to schools; and to empower their students to choose healthy relationships.
A Guide to Preventing Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence in Rhode Island Schools
The Rhode Island General Assembly is taking action to provide districts with the support they need to effectively address and prevent bullying, teen dating violence, and sexual violence in schools. In 2003, the General Assembly passed R.I.G.L. 16-21-26 requiring school committees to adopt bullying prevention policies in their district public schools. This same law required the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to prepare and distribute a model bullying prevention policy to school committees. These bullying prevention policies went into effect on September 1, 2004.
This was followed in 2007, by the passage of R.I.G.L. 16-85-2, also known as the Lindsay Ann Burke Act. This policy requires school committees to adopt a policy for responding to incidents of teen dating violence and to educate their community—students, parents, staff, faculty, and administrators—on prevention and intervention. Once again, the General Assembly called on RIDE to develop and distribute a model policy to guide school committees. But, rather than create a new and separate policy, RIDE, along with collaborators, expanded the Bullying Policy to include implications for teen dating violence as well as sexual violence. The purpose of this policy is to help school committeesamend existing policies to create and adopt one, all-inclusive policy to address bullying, teen dating violence, and sexual violence.
The General Assembly and RIDE recognize that each school committee will adapt some or all of this model policy in order best meet the unique needs of their own districts. And so, this document includes some general considerations that districts may take into account as they develop policies to prevent and respond to bullying, teen dating violence and sexual violence.
A safe school environment, free of bullying, teen dating violence and sexual violence, is possible when all members of a community work together to affect change at many levels. The purpose of this document, A Guide to Preventing Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, in Rhode Island Schools, is to help districts develop, in every school, a response and prevention strategy that engages and empowers administration, faculty, students and parents to take action against abuse. To that end, we offer the following tools, in addition to the model policy mentioned above:
- Federal and Rhode Island Law Requires Schools to Respond to Bullying, Teen Dating Violence, and Sexual Violence: A summary of laws that describe and define school and district responsibilities to address abuse.
- The Dating Violence Prevention Toolkit: A guide to understanding teen dating violence with tools and strategies to stop violence before it starts.
- Resources: Books, articles, organizations, and online resources about bullying, teen dating violence, and sexual violence to educate and empower.
FEDERAL AND RHODEISLAND LAW REQUIRES SCHOOLS TO RESPOND TO TEEN DATING VIOLENCE, BULLYING, AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE
School districts have a legal duty to respond to reports of Teen Dating Violence, Bullying, and Sexual Violence under state and federal law.
Federal Law
This analysis was adapted from the California Model Policy of School Response to Teen Dating Violence and
Sexual Violence.[6]
Duties and Requirements under Title IX
Right to be Free from Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
Schools that receive federal funds can be liable under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for failing to adequately respond to teen dating violence and sexual violence against students. Title IX guarantees that “[n]o person in the United States shall on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”[7]
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. Sexual violence is an extreme form of sexual harassment. Teen dating violence can be a form of sexual harassment because it often involves unwelcome touching, sexual demands, verbal abuse, and physical coercion of a sexual nature.
School Liability for Teen Dating Violence, Bullying, and Sexual Violence
School districts are liable for student-on-student sexual harassment, and accordingly acts of teen dating violence that constitute sexual harassment, when: (1) a student has been sexually harassed, (2) the school has actual knowledge of the harassment, (3) the harassment was severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive, (4) the harassment caused the student to be deprived of access to educational opportunities or benefits, and (5) the school is deliberately indifferent to the harassment.[8]
Deliberate indifference is found in two circumstances. First, a school district that fails to affirmatively act to protect students can be found to be deliberately indifferent. Second, a school district that knows or reasonably should know that its actions to protect students are ineffective or inadequate can be found to be deliberately indifferent.[9]
Required School District Policies and Protocols
Title IX regulations require that each educational institution has a written policy and protocol for responding to sexual harassment.[10] Failure to adopt and implement policies on sexual harassment and teen dating violence that qualifies as sexual harassment exposes school districts to civil liability under Title IX.
ii. Duty to Provide Equal Protection of the Laws
The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment mandates that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of the laws, “which is essentially a direction that all persons similarly situated should be treated alike.” Federal courts have held that a school district’s deliberate indifference to peer sexual harassment, a form of sex discrimination, can constitute evidence that the district violated a student’s constitutional rights under the Equal Protection Clause.[11] Therefore, failing to respond to teen dating violence that qualifies as sexual harassment exposes school districts and their officials to civil liability under the Equal Protection Clause.[12]
Duty to Train Employees on Sexual Harassment Policies
School districts can be liable for failing to train employees on sexual harassment, and accordingly acts of teen dating violence that constitutes sexual harassment. Federal courts have held that school districts have a legal duty to train employees when (1) the need for training is obvious and (2) it is highly foreseeable that a student’s constitutional rights will be violated if the district fails to conduct such training.[13]
Duty to Promote School Safety
School districts that receive funds under the Safe and Drug-FreeSchools and Communities Act, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act, must have a plan that promotes school safety.[14] Because teen dating violence and sexual violence pose serious safety concerns, school safety plans should include teen dating violence and sexual violence.
Unsafe School Choice Option
The Unsafe School Choice Option of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that each state that receives federal funding offers to the parents of each student who attends a “persistently dangerous” public school, or “who becomes a victim of a violent criminal offense” while on school grounds the option to attend a safe public school.[15] This requirement permits victims to transfer to another school after experiencing an on-campus violent or threatening incident of teen dating violence or sexual violence.
Limitations of Freedom of Speech at School
Students have limited freedom of speech while they are at school. Perpetrators of teen dating violence and sexual violence often use speech and expressive conduct to harass their victims. Speech and expressive conduct can also be used by other students to retaliate against a victim who reports teen dating violence and/or sexual violence to the school or police. When teen dating or sexual violence involves speech or expression as a form of harassment, such speech can be restricted by the school in the interest of the safety and rights of other students.[16]
Rhode Island Law
Duty to Provide Health Education
All schools that are approved for the purpose of §§ 16-19-1 and 16-19-2 shall have a school health program which shall be approved by the state director of the department of health and the commissioner of elementary and secondary education or the commissioner of higher education, as appropriate. The program shall provide for the organized direction and supervision of a healthful school environment, health education, and services.[17]
Duty to Create, Maintain, and Enforce a Student Discipline Code
Each school committee shall make, maintain, and enforce a student discipline code. The purpose of the code is to foster a positive environment that promotes learning.[18]